Bears Watching

Day trip to Bran Castle

Day trip to Bran Castle

Day trip to Bran Castle

Bran Castle

Bran Castle is the only landmark that attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists because of a legend :Count Dracula’s Legend.

Bran Castle, one of the most valuable medieval architectural monuments in Romania, with its historic, military and economic significance, is known by tourists across the globe as Dracula’s Castle.

Bran Castle was originally a stronghold built by the Knights of the Teutonic Order in 1212. It was known by the name of Dietrichstein at the time.

Later on, towards the end of the 13th century, it was taken over by the Saxons in that region in order to protect the City of Brasov, an important trade center,against invading Turks.

The castle has four towers, the Powder House Tower is the oldest, it is part of the original castle built in 1212.

The castle had a protective and commercial purpose. It had two rows of walls closing the passing towards South. They were made in stone and brick. Only few traces of the initial defense position still exist.

Bran is a town nestled in a mountain pass between the Bucegi and Piatra Craiului ranges and during the 15th and 16th centuries was an important frontier town on the main road leading from Transylvania into Wallachia.

On December 1st, 1920, the Brasov Town Council donated the Bran Castle to Queen Marie of Romania,who lived there with the royal family till 1947.

Queen Marie held the castle as her second favourite residence after the one in Balcic.

Day trip to Rasnov Fortress

Day trip to Rasnov Fortress

Day trip to Rasnov Fortress

Rasnov Fortress

The saxon tradition says that the oldest part of the fortress was built by the Teutonic Knights (1211-1225).

Rasnov Fortress was built in the 14th century to protect the people of Rasnov and surrounding villages from the numerous invasions happening at the time.

This castle differs from some in that it was meant to be a place of refuge for the commoners from sieges over extended periods of time. As such it had at least 30 houses, a school, a chapel, and other buildings more commonly associated with a village.

The legend around the fountain says that during a siege, the inhabitants of the citadel made two Turkish prisoners dig a fountain in the middle of the citadel in order to regain their freedom. The captives dug for 17 years, during which time they wrote verses from Quran on the fountain's walls which can be seen even today. The fate of the prisoners isn't doubtless, some saying that they've been released, and others that they've been killed.

An important moment in the history of the Rasnov town is the glorious moment in the history of the Romanians, that is the unification of the three Romanian lands under the rule of lord Mihai Viteazul. In the period between 1600 and 1601, the town Rasnov provided accommodation for Mihai Viteazul and his wife, Lady Stanca.